There will be an undersupply of lawyers with the class of 2016 . . .

so predicts National Jurist’s preLaw magazine. In an article by its editor-in-chief, Jack Crittenden, preLaw compares decreasing law school enrollment figures with bar employment data to conclude that “there will be an undersupply of lawyers with the class of 2016, even if employment remains flat. And the class of 2017 should enjoy a market where the job demand is far greater than any previous class since NALP [the National Association for Law Placement] began tracking data in the early 1990s.”

But Crittenden leaves out an equally important part of the undersupply story – due to the aging of the lawyer population, an increasing number of lawyers are leaving the profession. As early as two years ago, President LeDuc noted how 56% of Michigan’s active resident lawyers are 50 years old or older. And Michigan data show that more lawyers are leaving the practice of law in Michigan than the law schools produce. The result is that, starting very soon, Michigan will not produce the number of law school graduates sufficient to replace the number now leaving the profession through retirement, death, and other employment. This portends well for job growth in Michigan.